


A Bonding Exercise

by bitter_red_gay



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Autistic Keith (Voltron), Bisexual Matt Holt, Bisexual Shiro (Voltron), Bonding, Canon Compliant, For the most part, Gen, Handcuffed Together, Japanese Keith (Voltron), Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Keith (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Minor Keith/Lance (Voltron), Minor Matt Holt/Shiro, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Are Hard, Team Voltron Family, Up to Season 6, broganes, dont read this if you dont like klance, klance starts to show up in ch3, so uh, the castle of lions deserved better, they are end game for this tho, they're not actually related but refer to each other as their brother
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2019-06-15 20:24:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15420879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitter_red_gay/pseuds/bitter_red_gay
Summary: After the fight with Lotor, everything was tense. Having someone you considered a trusted ally end up being a genocidal maniac who ends up trying to kill you does that sometimes. It was no secret that the team needed to spend some time around each other and bond to relieve the tension, but that didn’t mean they needed to be stuck together, right?***incredibly infrequent updates***





	1. Bonding: Featuring the Broganes

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first contribution to this fandom! I didn't write Krolia or Romelle into this fic solely because I don't feel like I have enough information to write them well. Also, I absolutely think that Shiro and Keith are constantly cursing under their breath in Japanese and in English around each other, which is pretty evident in this fic.

After the fight with Lotor, everything was tense. Having someone you considered a trusted ally end up being a genocidal maniac who ends up trying to kill you does that sometimes. It was no secret that the team needed to spend some time around each other and bond to relieve the tension, but that didn’t mean they needed to be stuck together, right?

Coran and Allura didn’t seem to think so. The two dug out the bracelets they had used when the team first came together and informed the others of their plan at breakfast. They wanted to have the team pair up and wear them for two or three days before finding another partner and continue that cycle until everyone had been stuck to everyone. The reactions were mixed, to say the least. Lance, Hunk, and Matt burst out laughing while Pidge groaned. Keith choked on his goo and Shiro looked dumbfounded.

After the initial shock wore off, Allura spoke up. She said, “I know this sounds like it would be a horrible inconvenience, but the tension between all of us is frankly unacceptable. We are a team, and we need to work together.” It was the truth, and everyone knew it.

Shiro asked, “How are we going to get things done if we’re all stuck together?”

Coran started talking about how they had changed the settings in the bracelets. “I’ve managed to make it so that the bracelets can separate! You can’t get too far apart from the person wearing the bracelet yours is bound to, though!” he said. He continued to explain the intricacies of the bracelets and how they functioned. Eventually, after much persuasion from the Alteans, the rest of the team agreed to take part in the bonding exercise.

*******

The next day, they ate breakfast and then were stuck together with the bracelets. The first person Keith was paired with was Shiro. Things could be worse. Keith was comfortable around Shiro. They were brothers in all but name, after all.

“Hey, you wanna go spar on the training deck?” Shiro asked, already getting up to head there. He already knew the answer was “yes.”

When they reached the training deck, Keith threw his jacket on the floor in the corner and headed to meet Shiro in the middle of the room. The two spent a brief period stretching in comfortable silence. Eventually, Keith broke the silence. “You ready to get your ass handed to you?” he asked.

Shiro scoffed, and then said, “We both know I’m stronger than you, and I’m a good half of a foot taller than you. If anyone is getting their ass handed to them, it’s you.”

Now it was Keith’s turn to scoff. “I’m faster though!” he said, before quietly adding, “And a half a foot is one hell of an exaggeration.” Shiro chuckled at Keith before asking if he was ready to start. Keith didn’t bother answering. Of fucking course he was ready to start.

Keith was quickly forced to admit to himself that Shiro was right. He was stronger. He was a lot stronger, but Keith was fast enough to make it an even match. They continued trading blows, but the rounds and rounds of sparring slowly turned to wrestling.

Eventually, Shiro ended up on top of Keith. Before Shiro could grab Keith’s hands and pin them to the ground, Keith decided that he’d rather fight dirty than admit defeat. He put his hands on Shiro’s sides and tickled him mercilessly. Shiro crumpled into a laughing mess on top of Keith. Keith flipped them, if only so he could tickle his brother even more.

Between laughs, Shiro said, “I f-forgot how dirty y-you f-fight! Jesus, f-fuck, you’re gonna k-kill me!” Keith just laughed evilly as he pulled himself off of Shiro. He went to fetch his jacket from the corner before returning to where Shiro still lay on the floor.

Looking down at his brother, Keith said, “I’d offer a hand to help you up, but you’re the absolute fucking worst and would absolutely pull me down.” Shiro hummed in agreement as he started to stand up. The two went to shower off so that they weren’t sweaty and gross when it was time for lunch.

As Shiro and Keith walked out of the locker rooms attached to the training room, Hunk walked in with Lance close behind him. “Hey, guys!” Hunk said, as Lance waived. “I managed to make something that tastes like pizza! It’s almost done, so we’re rounding everyone up.”

“If you guys get Matt and Pidge, we’ll get Allura and Coran,” Lance said.

“Sounds like a plan!” Shiro said. Hunk and Lance left, presumably to fetch the Alteans from the bridge. Turning to Keith, Shiro asked, “Do you think they’re in Green’s hangar?”

Keith shrugged and said, “There’s only one way to find out.” Together the two headed out of the training room and towards Green’s hangar.

Matt and Pidge were there and were working on enhancing the system Pidge had built to predict where the Galra would be when Shiro and Keith walked in. Shiro announced that Hunk had made lunch, but neither Holt looked up from their work. “Just give us 5 more minutes to work!” the siblings said, in sync.

Shiro and Keith exchanged a look because they knew full well that 5 more minutes really meant 5 more hours. Shiro bent down to Keith and whispered, “If you get the gremlin, I’ll get my nerd of a boyfriend.”

Shiro scooped Matt out of his chair, while Keith did the same thing to Pidge. They both squirmed like fish out of water and spat some rather creative curses at the two who were stealing them away from their work. As Shiro and Keith started to walk out of Green’s hangar, the Holt siblings stopped struggling and let themselves be carried to the dining hall.

Shiro and Keith deposited the Holt siblings into their respective chairs and then went to sit in theirs, ignoring the very confused stares coming from Hunk, Lance, Allura, and Coran. Lance passed out plates with slices of what Hunk was calling “space-pizza” to everyone. After a chorus of thanks to Lance for serving the food and Hunk for cooking it, everyone began to eat.

Once Keith began to chew, he realized just how much he disliked the texture of the food. He reflexively made a face at the texture, and Hunk noticed. With genuine concern in his voice, Hunk asked, “Do you not like it? Should I go and make you something else?”  
Keith immediately answered with, “No, no, it’s fine. Great, actually. I just didn’t expect it to taste this much like pizza.” Judging by the look Shiro sent him, he knew full well that that was a lie.

Shiro switched into Japanese as he said, “It’s the texture, isn’t it? I haven’t seen your ‘this texture is sensory hell’ face in a while, but that was definitely it.”

Keith, also speaking in Japanese, said, “Yeah, it is. It’s tolerable, but me and my autistic ass still are not fans of it.”

Allura asked what everyone had been doing. Hunk said that he and Lance had been cooking for hours to see how many things they could make that tasted like Earth food, and then the Holts started talking about their improvements to what Lance called “the Galra finder.” Allura said that she and Coran had been taking time to finally mourn Altea properly, before she turned to Shiro and Keith, in anticipation of their answer.

Keith shot Shiro a shit-eating grin before he started saying, “I was tic-”

“Sparring with me!” Shiro cut him off to say. He looked pointedly at Keith when he said, in Japanese, “If you tell _anyone_ , especially Matt, how ticklish I am, I will not hesitate to shoot you out of the fucking airlock.”

Keith shrugged in surrender before he said, “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was gonna say.” The conversation continued on as everyone ate. The dining hall was slowly emptied as pairs started finishing their space-pizza and leaving the room.

When Keith and Shiro left the dining hall, they went to the observation deck. Shiro laid on his stomach and propped his head up on his fists. Keith laid down on his back next to him. They laid like that in a comfortable and familiar silence for some time before Shiro spoke up.

Shiro moved so he could look at Keith and asked, “What was it like with the Blades?” Keith told him about all the missions he went on. He told him about how he met his mother and how the two of them met Romelle. He told him about his space-wolf that he let Krolia name Yorak. He told him how disappointed he was when Krolia had to report back to the blades and Romelle left to return to the tell the colony about Lotor. He also wondered aloud where the hell his space-wolf had wandered off to in the castle.

Keith didn’t tell Shiro about how out of place he felt with the Blades. He didn’t tell him how many people he saw die because “the mission is more important than the individual.” He didn’t tell him about all times he almost died because he had actually started to believe that the mission is more important than the individual.

Shiro looked at Keith with a pained look on his face. He spoke softly as he said, “Matt told me about what you did- or, almost did. I…” He trailed off before he began to speak again, saying, in the same soft tone, “I don’t know what I would’ve done with myself if you had actually done it. If you had actually died. You’re my baby brother. As much as I tease you, you know I love you, right?”

And Keith broke. He told Shiro about how the Blades didn’t feel like a family the way the team in the castle did and about how many people he saw die. He told him about how many times he almost died and how many times he had wished that he actually had. He told him about how meaningless and empty being with the Blades made him feel. Keith didn’t register that he was crying or that Shiro had moved to wrap him up in his arms until he had stopped talking.

They laid like that until Allura and Coran came to get them for dinner. Once in the dining hall, Coran and Allura served them all some food goo. The team made small talk about everything and nothing at all before the pairs started finishing their good and dispersing again.

Shiro and Keith found themselves in Shiro’s room after diner. Shiro sprawled out on his bed and opened a book he had gotten from the Earth specialty store in the space-mall. Keith was polishing his knife while he sat between the wall and Shiro and had thrown his legs over Shiro’s.

They sat like that, enjoying each other’s presence for an hour or so, until Keith spoke. “Hey, Kashi. Do you have any of your clones memories?” he asked.

Shiro rolled onto his back so he could look at his brother before he began speaking. Choosing his words carefully, he said, “Yes. I have most of them. I’m so sorry about what I- or he- said to you during that fight. You know I don’t actually believe the things he told you, right.”

Keith scoffed before he said, “Of fucking course I know that. Could you… Could you tell me about what happened while I was gone?” Shiro told him about everything from the Voltron Show to the Monsters and Mana games that the team had played.

By the time Keith had been completely filled in about the team’s shenanigans while he was gone, both he and Shiro were struggling to keep their eyes open. Shiro said, “ ‘M sleepy,” as he set his book on the floor. Keith hummed in agreement as he put his knife next to Shiro’s book. Shiro went to change into the black sweatpants and white tank-top that he slept in. Once he was done, they went to Keith’s room so he could change into the red sweatpants he slept in.

They returned to Shiro’s room to sleep because the bed was already warm from them laying in it for so long. Shiro laid on his back and opened his arms for Keith to come and lay on top of him. Keith did and then made a pillow out of his arms on Shiro’s chest as Shiro threw the blanket over the two of them and then wrapped his arms around Keith. They both slept more soundly than they had in a long, long while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't edit this very well, so if you see any grammatical errors or awkward wording, please don't hesitate to point it out!!! Also, I'm considering making this 8 chapters? Right now it's at 7, so there's one for Keith being stuck to Shiro, Matt, Hunk, Allura, Pidge, Coran, and Lance, in that order. I might add an 8th chapter where that's set after they've all been stuck together where they're all just chilling around watching old Altean movies and playing space Mario Kart.


	2. Siblinghood: Featuring Matt and Keith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per usual, I didn't proofread this as well as I should have, so feel free to point out any errors that you might see! That's really all I have to say right now, so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯.

For the next two days, Keith was still stuck to Shiro. Once those two days came and went uneventfully, it was time for everyone to be stuck to a different person. The swap of partners happened after everyone had eaten their usual food goo breakfast. This time, Keith was stuck to Matt. Things could still be worse. Keith was also comfortable around Matt, although not as much so as he was with Shiro. 

 

After leaving the dining hall, Matt and Keith found themselves in the lounge. Unsurprisingly, none of the other pairs were there. Hunk and Pidge were almost definitely in either Green or Yellow’s hangar, tinkering away at god knows what. Lance had been dragged, complaining all the way, by Allura to the bridge so that she could tell the members of the Coalition about Lotor’s treachery. Coran took Shiro to continue his regular maintenance around the castle. 

 

Keith sat down on one side of the couches in the lounge and grabbed one of the many old Altean books that Allura and Coran had translated. Matt sat on the other side, leaning against the arm and putting his legs into Keith’s lap. Matt pulled out his communicator that he had gotten from the rebels and began messaging some of the friends he had made while he was working with them. 

 

Eventually, Mat broke the comfortable silence between the two boys. “You don’t happen to have any embarrassing stories about Shiro, do you?” he asked. They both knew that Keith did. 

 

He raised an eyebrow as he asked, “Why do you want to know? You make it sound like you’re trying to blackmail your own fucking boyfriend.” 

 

With a laugh, Matt said, “I guess embarrassing stories could be considered blackmail material, but blackmail is Pidge’s thing, not mine. I just need to know that there’s someone else who understands the willpower it takes to not tell every story of dumb shit they’ve seen their sibling do to their entire team.” 

 

With a smirk, Keith said, “In that case, buckle the fuck up, because Shiro’s a fucking dumbass and no one knows that better than me.”

 

“Oh, this is gonna be good,” Matt said excitedly as he sat up.

 

“So you know how Shiro has that one fluff of hair that’s longer than all the rest and covers his forehead? Yeah, he grew it out to cover a scar he got from bashing his head into the top of a doorway because he’s a fucking giant and forgot to duck under it. He needed 5 fucking stitches and gave himself a goddamn concussion.”

 

“Oh my fucking god, Pidge did something like that once. They were carrying their laptop and coding something while they were walking and they walked face first into a closed fucking door. The idiot broke their nose with the door and their laptop with all the blood from their broken nose.”  

 

Matt and Keith spent the rest of the morning trading stories of their siblings being idiots and trying not to die from laughing too hard. Eventually, Coran and Shiro came to fetch them for a delicious and nutritious food goo lunch.

 

Eventually, the conversation again turned to what everyone had spent their morning doing. Matt looked at Pidge while Keith looked at Shiro, both looking mildly terrified. Luckily for them, it went unnoticed by the rest of the team. Matt and Keith looked at each other as they came to the silent agreement that they were going to have to lie in order to ensure that they didn’t get murdered by their respective siblings.

 

Coran started talking about how he and Shiro had been having an “absolutely wonderful day cleaning and doing basic maintenance” while Shiro looked less than enthused with the cleaning and maintenance. Once Coran was done, Allura told the team about how the members of the Coalition she had contacted reacted to the news of Lotor’s betrayal so far, and afterward, Lance complained about how boring it was. He was quickly shut up by the leveling glare that Allura sent his way. Hunk and Pidge explained the work they had been doing in Yellow’s hangar, while using a rather wide variety of terms that Keith couldn’t even began to comprehend. 

 

“Could you say that again, in English this time?” Lance asked.

 

Pidge and Hunk exchanged an unamused look before Pidge said, “We essentially made space Mario Kart.”

 

All the human team members erupted with pure joy and excitement into a chorus of “oh my god that’s amazing,” “we need to play it, like, yesterday,” and other such praises as the Alteans looked between all of them, bewildered.

 

“When can we play it?” Lance asked. 

 

“We just finished it before we came for lunch, so whenever.” Pidge said.

 

Before Lance could respond, Allura looked at him and said, “We still have to contact members of the Coalition, Lance.” He visibly deflated. He grumbled something in response, but when Allura got up to leave, he went with her. 

 

Shiro looked like he was trying (and failing) to hide the disappointed look on his face when he turned to Coran and said, “I take it you still have cleaning and such that you want my help with.” Coran nodded enthusiastically, as if there was absolutely nothing he’d rather be doing. Shiro sighed as he got up to leave with Coran. 

 

Matt looked at Keith and said, “I don’t care if you have something to do, we’re playing space Mario Kart so I can demolish Pidgeon.” Pidge squawked indignantly while Hunk and Keith tried to stifle their laughter. The four started walking to Yellow’s hangar, where space Mario Kart had been set up, with Matt and Pidge bickering the whole way about who was actually better at Mario Kart. 

 

When they arrived, Hunk handed Matt and Keith controllers that looked suspiciously like Wii remotes. 

 

“Are the controls all the same as they are on the Wii?” Keith asked. 

 

“Yup!” Hunk said, before continuing to explain how he and Pidge had designed them like that to reduce the amount of explaining they would have to do to anyone else who wanted to play. 

 

“Alright, losers. Sit the fuck down and prepare to get fucking demolished!” Pidge said. Everyone complied, even if Matt rolled his eyes while doing so. On the character select screen, all the characters looked enough like the ones in actual Mario Kart for them to be recognized. Matt chose Bowser, Pidge chose Toad, Hunk chose Yoshi, and Keith chose King Boo. The tracks also were similar enough to the originals to be recognized. 

 

“Just a warning, if any of you fucks pick Rainbow Road, I’m gonna have to kill you,” Keith said. 

 

Hunk nodded, saying, “I’m also gonna have to poison your food goo, so there’s that.”

 

Matt and Pidge hummed in acknowledgment before Matt said, “Choosing Rainbow Road is just a dick move.” 

 

“That’s true,” Hunk said, while Keith nodded in agreement. 

 

The first person to pick was Pidge. They decided to play on Coconut Mall. Next was Hunk, who chose Desert Hills. After Hunk, Matt chose Wario’s Gold Mine. He got loud groans from the other 3, who begrudgingly went along with his choice. Lastly, Keith chose to play Sherbet Land. Overall, the 4 players took the top 4 spots. Keith was first, Pidge was second, Matt was third, and Hunk was fourth. 

 

Pidge was gloating at Matt, who was demanding a rematch. Meanwhile, Hunk turned to Keith and said, “You’re way to good at this. How often did you play Mario Kart on Earth?” 

 

Keith shrugged and said, “Shiro and I spent pretty much every Saturday doing nothing but playing video games, and we always spent at least an hour on Mario Kart.” Pidge and Matt kept arguing, while Keith and Hunk kept talking about who they had played with on Earth.  

 

Eventually, Matt exclaimed, “Keith, I can lose to. I can’t lose to Pidgeon, though! We’re playing again.” So they did. The four kept playing until Allura and Lance came to fetch them for dinner.

 

“Coran has prepared us dinner!” Allura said. Pidge and Keith looked at each other, mildly horrified. Matt, who hadn’t yet fallen victim to Coran’s cooking, watched the exchange of looks in bewilderment, while Allura frowned at it. 

 

“Lance, buddy, on a scale of ‘I don’t know what this is and I am genuinely afraid to eat it’ to ‘This is the space equivalent of Domino’s pizza’ how bad is it?” Hunk asked. 

 

Lance shrugged and said, “I haven’t actually tasted it, but it smelled decent enough, and it didn’t look like it contained the cooked carcass of something that died 20 years ago. Shiro said it tasted pretty good too, so I’m actually leaning towards space Domino’s.” 

 

That seemed to be good enough for everyone, because the pairs started walking towards the dining hall. While they were walking, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were filling Matt in on the time that Coran had tried to feed them old Altean food. The longer they talked, the more Matt looked like he was about to throw up.

 

They walked into the dining hall, where Coran and Shiro had already set everyone’s places. The food seemed to be some kind of soup and did actually smell vaguely good. Once everyone began to eat, Lance asked how space Mario Kart was. Keith and Hunk answered simply, with “A lot like actual Mario Kart” and “It was fun” respectively. Pidge and Matt somehow managed to use that question as kindling to restart their earlier squabble over who was better at Mario Kart. Soon enough, the Holts calmed down and the conversation drifted to other places. 

 

Once the dining hall started emptying out, Matt and Keith headed to Keith’s room. They sat side by side on his bed in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Matt spoke. He said, “I hate to have to ask this, because I know Shiro definitely already talked to you about it, but I still just wanna know. Didn’t you have any friends with the Blades who would've missed you if you had gone through with that stunt you were about to pull?” 

 

Keith looked at Matt, and then back at the wall across from them before he spoke, saying “Not really, no. It wasn’t exactly an environment that encouraged friendships. The mission came before anyone and everyone’s life, so we all resigned ourselves to not actually making friends with anyone to save ourselves from some of the inevitable grief. And before you ask, yes, I know, I’ve been told by Shiro how much this team would’ve missed me, but I was going to do it to protect them.” 

 

Matt stayed quiet for a few seconds before saying, “It wasn’t like that with the rebels.” Keith turned and looked at him in confusion. Matt continued on, “We weren’t as close as everyone here, but we were friends. We put lives before the mission. There’ll always be another chance to rescue prisoners, gather intel, or whatever. There’ll never be another person who was the same one that died, though. So we made friends.” 

 

Matt kept talking about the rebels and answering Keith’s questions. He told Keith about how the rebels rescued him from a Galra prison and what he was doing before Pidge found him. He talked about the missions he went on, the friends he’d made, and the prisoners he’d helped save. Eventually, Keith started telling Matt more about what he was doing with the blades. He told Matt about the successful missions and the people he’d met. They talked until they both ran out of stories and desperately needed some sleep. 

 

They both changed into their pajamas and laid down in Keith’s bed. Matt was facing the wall, but he rolled over to say, “I’m kinda feeling cuddly right now. Specifically, I’m feeling like a little spoon.” Keith laughed lightly before he rolled over to throw his arm over Matt. They both fell asleep shortly after. 


	3. Cooking: Featuring Hunk and Keith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did my writing style change radically between chapters? Absolutely.  
> Am I going to change the previous chapters to match? Hopefully, but probably not.
> 
> Real talk tho, s8 has got me fucked up and this is how I'm coping.  
> Also klance starts to show up in this chapter.

Keith spent the next two days with Matt. Once again, the pairs were changed after the team ate breakfast. This time, Keith was stuck to Hunk.

It was when he was stuck to Hunk that Keith realized things were only going to go downhill from here. He knew Shiro and Matt before all the Voltron business happened, so he was comfortable enough around them. They both knew how to read him and being around them wasn’t as draining as being around other people could be. Everyone else he was acquaintances at best with before he found himself as the Red Paladin of Voltron. The next 15 days were going to be exhausting. 

Shortly after the pairs were changed, Keith found himself sitting on weird Altean counters in the kitchen as Hunk moved around the kitchen gathering ingredients and materials that he thought would be useful to make something that tasted like garlic knots. 

When Keith had asked why garlic knots were the first thing Hunk wanted to emulate today, Hunk paused briefly. “They’re for Lance,” he had said, with a forlorn look on his face. “His family would make them for birthdays and holidays, but because his family is so big, that was pretty much every week. He realized last week that his little sister’s birthday is today and he’s really torn up about it. He was homesick before, but it’s a million times worse now.”

“So you wanted to make something to cheer him up?”

Hunk nodded as he went back to gathering ingredients, while Matt was dragged into the kitchen by Coran. Keith hopped down from his perch on the counter and started to help Hunk, who looked at him quizzically. Keith shrugged as he said, “Only Shiro and Matt know this but I can kinda cook. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t cook as well as you, but I’m decent enough to be of some use.” 

“Mmmmm that’s bullshit. Your cooking is better than my mom’s, Keith. Don’t tell her I said that though; she’d kill me.” Matt said.

“That’s some high praise, Keith! How did the rest of us not know you can cook?” Hunk asked, seemingly excited to have someone he could cook with.

“I mean it wasn’t exactly a secret, but I don’t really cook for myself. You and Coran tend to take care of cooking for everyone, so I never had a reason to,” Keith said, while moving out of the way for Coran to grab something from the space version of a cleaning supplies cabinet. 

Matt moved to sit on the counter where Keith had been as he spoke. “Didn’t you cook for Shiro and yourself before we went on the Kerberos mission? You’d think I’d know because I practically lived in your apartment, but I have the memory of a goldfish.”

Coran began to move out of the room, apparently having found whatever he was looking for as he said, “Matthew and I have more cleaning to do, but I’d love to hear more about your human cooking and these fishes made out of gold over dinner!” Matt didn’t bother protesting as Coran lead him out of the room, presumably having realized that it would do him no good.

As the boys continued their work on making Lance garlic knots, Hunk broke the silence. “So, did you actually cook for Shiro, or what?”

A fond smile broke out onto Keith’s face as he said, “Yeah, I did. I mean, Shiro can cook Japanese food, but asking him to cook anything else is just asking for the building to be burned down and traditional Japanese food can get pretty involved, so I cooked.”

“Cooking at my house was always a family endeavor. My family isn’t as huge as Lance’s and our kitchen was abnormally large, so we all fit in and made dinner together. It gets kinda lonely cooking alone. When we’re done with this whole being stuck together thing, would you mind cooking with me? If you have the time, I mean.”

“There’s not much to do out in the middle of space Hunk. We have nothing  _ but _ time.”

“So you’ll cook with me?”

“Yeah, of course.”   
  


The two traded stories about things they had cooked and things that they had attempted to cook before they all got sucked into the Voltron business. It started with the time Hunk’s sister started a fire in their kitchen and continued through enough horror stories to make anyone wonder who left them alone in a kitchen. 

After hours of (potentially dangerous) experimentation and some truly disgusting attempts, Hunk and Keith were left with something that looked nothing like garlic knots but tasted exactly like them. The space garlic knots were small purple cubes with smaller yellow specks in them and looked like they ought to have been lethal to humans, but tasted like heaven. 

After having made quite a few batched of them Hunk said, “So, I guess we go fetch Lance now, huh?” After a nod of agreement from Keith, both boys headed out to find the blue paladin.

It took well over half an hour to find Lance and Shiro in the endless expanses of the castleship, but the blue and black paladins were eventually found in the lounge watching old Altean movies. They were both so engrossed in a movie (that was in a language neither of them understood) that they jumped out of their skin when the door to the lounge opened. 

“Hey, buddy! Keith and I made you something!” Hunk called. 

Shiro raised an eyebrow in Keith’s direction, subtly enough that only Keith noticed it but obvious enough that a simple movement of an eyebrow screamed, “How whipped for him  _ are _ you?” Keith rolled his eyes at his older brother, but they both knew he had it bad for a certain blue paladin.

Lance pulled himself off of the couch and started towards Hunk and Keith, with his signature smirk on his face and Shiro following behind him. “And what might that be?”

“Follow us and we’ll show you!” Hunk motioned for Lance to follow him out the door, and so the four paladins headed back towards the kitchen. The door opened with the strange woosh that had started to become normal to the paladins, but the sight of unrecognizable space garlic knots was underwhelming. Hunk picked one up and giddily handed it to Lance as Shiro and Keith took up residence leaning against a nearby wall. “Taste it!”

Lance’s eyebrows scrunched up as he investigated the oddly colored cube his best friend had just presented him, but he ate it with a shrug. The second it entered his mouth, his eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “These are garlic knots! They’re space garlic knots!” He tackled Hunk in a hug that would’ve knocked anyone else flat on their butt, all while spouting various expressions of thanks and gratitude at Hunk. 

“Keith helped too! Let me breathe and crush his ribcage instead!” 

And, oh, did Lance take the suggestion. Keith barely had time to register that Shiro was desperately trying not to laugh at the situation before he was also hug-tackled. His arms instinctively came up to wrap around Lance as his back slammed into the wall he was leaning against. Shiro leaned down and whispered something into Lance’s ear, and then Keith saw a flash of pure mischief in Lance’s eyes. In one second, his feet were solidly on the ground. In another, solely because his brother thrives off of his suffering, his feet were no longer anywhere near the general vicinity of the ground.

Now, Keith likes to think himself okay with most things, but being picked up by anyone other than Shiro is not a thing that he is used to. The strangled, shocked scream that escaped his throat was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and both Hunk and Shiro were on the floor in stitches. Lance was also laughing, and put Keith down for fear of dropping him.

“Since when can you pick me up and  _ why _ did you decide to do it?” Keith squawked, pointedly ignoring that it was getting to be lunch time and he, Hunk, Lance, and Shiro were no longer the only ones in the room. 

“Picking you up was not my idea, but, God, I wish it was. That’s all your brother.”

Pidge, who had just joined her brother and Coran, spoke as Allura came to stand next to her. “You’d think you’d be okay with your feet leaving the ground. You’re a pilot, aren’t you?”

“My feet don’t normally leave the ground unless I have a say in it!” Keith answered, indignantly. 

Lance scoffed at that. “I think we just disproved that one, Red. Your feet were very much not on the ground there.” 

Keith saw Hunk roll his eyes at the oncoming petty squabble and picked up the tray of garlic knots to serve. The rest of the team sat and watched the red and blue paladins bicker over the events just prior, occasionally cutting in to add something. 

Pairs filed out as they finished their space garlic knots, and eventually Keith and Hunk were left alone once more. Keith, never one to for boredom, eventually spoke up. “So, uh, what do we now?” 

Hunk hummed in thought and then chucked before he spoke. “Well, Yellow wants me to wash her, so if you’re okay with that, we could go visit her. You could help if you want.”

“I might as well.”

The two boys made their way down to the yellow lion’s hangar and began to gather the supplies one needs to wash a giant robotic semi-sentient lion. Those supplies include but are not limited to a bucket of water, a sponge, Coran’s lion polishing compound, a change of clothes, and towels. Naturally, gathering all of those things takes some time.

After another half hour wasted gathering materials, the boys finally got to work washing Yellow. Keith eventually found himself situated on top of her head with a sponge in hand, desperately trying not to fall. Hunk called up to him, “Do you have any clue how you’re getting down from there?”

Shit. The answer to that question was absolutely fucking not, but Keith would never admit that. “I, uh… I’ll figure it out.” The second the words left his mouth, he moved enough to shift his center of balance, and slipped right off of Yellow’s head. He landed hard on his tailbone and he felt it already beginning to bruise.

“Or you’ll do that. You okay there?” Hunk said, already moving to help Keith up. Keith involuntarily grimaced, and Hunk spoke again. “That face says no. Come on, let’s pop you into a healing pod.” 

Keith wanted to protest but the noticeable limp he was walking with left no room for argument. Hunk took notice of this and swooped Keith up into his arms and off of his feet. Keith rolled his eyes. “Am I not allowed to use my own legs anymore?”

“Not with a limp like that, no.” 

The two arrived at the medical bay and Hunk turned away to set up the pod as Keith change into one of the uncomfortably tight healing pod suits. When the pod sprouted out of the ground and opened, he stepped in. Hunk gave a mock salute, and Keith was out.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

Keith’s eyes opened lazily. He was aware of the cold before he was aware of any sight or sound. Distantly, as if in the next room over, he heard a healing pod open. And then he was falling. It was in this instant that he snapped into consciousness, and he barely caught himself before he went tumbling out of the pod. 

Hunk, who had been fiddling with a circuit board in a chair a few feet away, snapped his head up. “Ah, sorry, I meant to be there to catch you when you got out. I do have food goo for you though! You were kinda in there through dinner.”

“Thanks, Hunk. Sorry I kept you in here instead of with everyone else for dinner.” After speaking, Keith began eating because it had just hit him like a truck how hungry he was. Both boys began walking towards the bedrooms, as it was clearly during the castle’s night cycle.

“Oh, no, everyone actually ate in the med bay. Coran got a real kick out of how you hurt yourself though; said Alfor had done the same thing when he was helping the old yellow paladin.”

They made a pitstop into the kitchen so that Keith could drop his bowl into the automatic dishwasher, and they continued off to bed. 

“Oh man, I just realized I’m gonna have to share a bed with Shiro eventually. You’re-- no offence-- kinda small, so it’ll work with you, but Shiro and I are both broad shoulders and bulky muscle.” 

Keith laughed as they walked into his room and said, “You’ll figure it out when it comes down to it, I reckon.” 

Hunk stopped dead in his tracks. “Was that… Was that a Texas accent?” 

Keith, who was too tired to argue and had already settled into his bed against the wall, shook his head. “Yeah. My dad was from Texas-- hell, they called him Tex-- and I lived there for a while, so the accent comes out when I’m tired.”

Hunk nodded in acknowledgement, clearly too tired to vocalize a response. He settled down next to Keith, and both boys were out within 5 minutes. 


	4. Bonding (Part 2): Featuring Keith and Allura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seasons 7 and 8 hurt. I kinda divorced voltron because of them, but my dumb ADHD autistic ass been massively hyperfixated on this show for the better part of 2 years and I completely fell in love with the main cast, so I'm back. I can't drop hyperfixations like that and I've decided canon is irrelevant so I make the rules. So to the three or four people who actually care, I'm very much not done yet. Hang with me and we'll get through this together, yeah?  
> ~Red

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe.

 

Who was he kidding, it had been days since he was ever truly alone and his schedule was all kinds of out of whack. This was very much as bad, if not worse than, he imagined it would be. 

 

This time he was linked to Allura. The exchange of partners, or maybe fellow prisoners, occurred after breakfast, as usual. The whole meal before Keith was desperately trying to conceal the fact that he was slowly becoming so over stimulated Allura’s mice brushing against his leg felt like someone had lit his pant leg on fire. 

 

Pairs trickled out of the dining hall , eventually leaving just Keith and Allura. Sitting there alone with her, Keith realized that out of everyone on the castle ship, he knew her the least. Coran was always telling stories and he at least had the shared experience of being human with the other paladins and Matt. All he knew about Allura though was all everyone who had never met her knew. 

 

“Would you like to go watch the stars with me?” Allura’s cautious tone gave away that she too had realized how unfamiliar the two now stuck together were. Whether her suggestion was made because it was safe or because she actually wanted to watch the stars was a mystery to Keith.

 

“Yeah, sure?” He didn’t intend his sentence to sound like a question, but his social battery was starting to run so low that he had to put the energy normally used for controlling things like that into not losing his mind. 

 

Allura only chuckled and shook her head at Keith’s confusion and got up to leave to the observation deck. This served to do nothing but confuse the poor boy even more, but he followed nevertheless. 

 

The walk to the observation deck was silent. It was an unusual silence in that it was both comfortable and out of place. Keith and Allura were both fine with it, but to anyone else it would be extraordinarily bizarre that two people who had been stuck in space together for god knows how long couldn’t find a single thing to talk about.

 

As the pair walked into the room, Allura spoke. “You know, what you all have done with this space is very,”-- She paused and made a face as she tried to find the word-- “very human.” Keith stopped and looked around at the couches, blankets, and pillows that he and the other paladins had moved into the observation deck. 

 

Keith answered with, “Maybe it is, but is that really so bad?”

 

“Oh, no, of course not! It was merely an observation!”

 

Allura might have intended to say more, but was cut off by Keith trying and failing to suppress a snort. She looked at him quizzically as she said, “Did I say something funny?” 

 

“Kinda? I just think bad puns are worthy of being laughed at.” At her confused look, he continued. “An observation about the observation deck”

 

With that the light bulb went on, and Allura smiled as she rolled her eyes. “That was worse than some of Lance’s pick up lines!”

 

Keith jumped over the back of one of the couches and leaned theatrically against the arm as he said, “You wound me, Allura!”

 

The two laughed at their own antics before settling into another brief silence. 

 

Allura spoke first. “Even though the Castle of Lions has been my home for my whole life, it didn’t really feel quite like a home until you paladins showed up.”

 

Keith turned to look at her as he said, “I’m not gonna say I get it exactly, but I know a little too well the difference between a house and a home.”

 

Allura finally caught his gaze, though not for long before he turned his head back to the stars outside. She watched his profile as she answered, “It was my home but it wasn’t just mine and my family’s home. There were advisors and diplomats and workers, and I understand how spoiled this must sound, but I couldn’t do things like this.” She stopped and sighed before she continued. “I couldn’t just sit and watch the stars pass with a friend in what may as well have been my living room. Although I’m sure that’s not what you meant at all, is it?” 

 

Keith turned his head back to her and held her gaze for another short second before he dropped his eyes to the mice, who had joined them and were now playing on the floor. He took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and stopped. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Allura cock her head to the side, but she didn’t say anything. He looked back at her and said, “Did Alteans have anything like a foster care system?”

 

“I’m not sure I know what a ‘foster care system’ even is. I’d love for you to explain though.”

 

Keith inhaled through his teeth, and began. “It’s a system where kids who don’t have parents or have parents who can’t or won’t take good care of them are placed in group homes or with other families. I guess some of them must be good, but the ones I was placed in were, uh, not.” 

 

Allura whipped her head from watching the mice to look at Keith once more. She looked concerned as she spoke, “I’m sorry I can’t say this with more tact, but what happened to your parents?”

 

Keith sighed once more and said, “My dad died when I was really young. I was 6, actually.” Bitterness started seeping into his voice as he said, “And for most of my life I had plausible deniability for my mother’s fucking existence.”

 

He grimaced, shook his head as if he could shake of his own anger, and cut himself off. “Sorry, sorry. I’m not angry at you.”

 

“That’s alright. You don’t have to explain, if you don’t want to. I shouldn’t have pried.” 

 

Keith’s eyebrows raised for a second before he said, “I was kinda asking for questions with my explanation though. I should’ve expected it, you’re fine. My point is, though, I know full well that there’s a difference between a place of residence and a home.” 

 

Allura smiled at him. “You’re more wise than you let on.”

 

“It’s Shiro rubbing off.”

 

Lance, who had dragged Matt in as Keith was speaking the last sentence, raised an eyebrow and said, “You don’t give off the Space Dad vibes, Red.”

 

Keith exaggeratedly rolled his eyes as he said “Ok. That's not even a little bit close to what I meant, but, ok, sure we’ll do this now.” Matt and Allura exchanged a look, now knowing full well what petty arguments would soon take place. 

 

Or, would’ve had Matt not spoken up, “It’s food time, fuckers!” 

 

As is true with any teenage boy, an offer of food proved to be more than enough to get the boys to shut their mouths. As the group walked to the dining hall, they talked about nothing in particular. 

 

When they got to the room and sat down, everyone else was already in their seats. The usual conversation about what everyone was doing ensued.

 

“I’ve been teaching Coran how to cook edible food,” was all Hunk said. His tone may as well have been a cry for help with how exhausted he sounded.

 

Coran interjected, “I don’t understand the problem all you humans have with Altean delicacies! These recipes are decaphoebs old and have appeased the taste buds of kings!” 

 

Allura, ever the diplomat, cut in to calm him down. “Human taste buds are just different from ours, Coran.” Coran quieted down, but was still grumbling as Allura continued. “Keith and I were star gazing. It’s best to take advantage of living in space and appreciate its beauty, isn’t it? What did the rest of you do?” 

 

The four remaining said, in surprising unison, “Space Mario Kart!” 

 

Matt laughed as he said, “I forgot how good the Broganes are at Mario Kart.”

 

“I’m sorry the what?” Lance said incredulously. 

 

Shiro and Keith exchanged a look of pure terror as Matt grinned maniacally. 

 

Shiro spoke before Matt could. “Just so Matt doesn’t ruin my reputation, I’m gonna explain. Keith, you can cut in if you want. Matt, I’m not above kicking you out of the room if you do. Anyway, my dad really likes to think he’s funny, so when he realized that Keith’s last name is Kogane, all hell broke loose.” 

 

Keith cut in exasperatedly, “All he called me for months was golden boy. For  _ months _ !”

 

“At least that didn’t stick! Now my whole family asks our parents about us like that! They go to Mom and say, ‘How are the Broganes?’ to her! Whatever, where was I?” Shiro paused for a brief second to collect his thoughts before he continued. “So ‘shiro,’ ‘ko,’ and ‘bro,’ all end with that ‘oh’ sound, and my dad thinks he’s hilarious, so he started calling us the Broganes. The end.” 

 

Matt gasped, “But wait, there’s more! It spread! You forgot about Mamagane and Papagane!” 

 

Keith looked pointedly at him. “Only you call them that, though.” 

 

“Maybe so,” Matt said. Then he leaned over and whispered something to Lance. “Lance and I are peacing out! Later losers!” Matt said, throwing up peace signs as he got up to leave with Lance. The shit eating grin that had worked its way onto Lance’s face before he got up worried both brothers, but they silently agreed that it was better to not know what mischief Matt was planning. 

 

Once again, people started filing out of the dining hall. Keith and Allura found themselves in Allura’s room. It was massive and looked exactly as you’d expect a princess’s room to look like. The bed was big enough for them both to sprawl out on, and that’s exactly what they did. 

 

After Allura got comfortable, she spoke “I realized earlier today that I don’t know a lot about you. What do you say we change that?”

 

“How do you plan on doing that?”

 

“Have you ever heard of the game 20 questions?” 

 

Keith rolled onto his back and looked at Allura upside down as he spoke. “Did Lance tell you about it?”

 

“Yes! It’s such an interesting way to get to know someone, although I hardly think it deserves to be called a game. Would you like to play?”

 

“Sure”

 

They played ricocheted questions off of one another until they both fell asleep in positions that their backs would be screaming at them about for days, but they were content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, all did not go well in editing this. My allergies killed me (and kinda still are) so I couldn't do much of anything, then my laptop decided functioning is overrated. This is being posted a whole week later than I intended and shorter than most of the other chapters (sorry) and ends kind of abruptly (sorry), but it's whatever.


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